Privacy Policy
Last updated 23 October 2026. Applies to brizawatch.co.za and the Briza Watch app for iPhone and Android.
1. Who we are
Briza Neighbourhood Watch is a volunteer community safety organisation in Briza, Somerset West, Cape Town. We are the responsible party for the personal information described here under the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). Our Information Officer is the Chairperson, who you can reach at info@brizawatch.co.za.
2. What we collect, and why
Your account
Name, email address, phone number, your address in Briza, and a password (stored only as a one-way hash, never readable). We need these to confirm you live in Briza before giving you access, and to contact you. If you join as a patroller we also keep your acceptance of the volunteer code of conduct and your signed indemnity waiver, and — only if you choose — a short bio and photo for the Our Patrollers page.
Incident reports
What you report: the type of incident, a description, the time, the place you pin on the map, and any photo you attach. We remove the location information embedded in photos before they are shown.
Patrols
The shifts you book, when you check in and out, and a single GPS reading at check-in and check-out to confirm you were on site. If you tick “share my live location” when checking in, your location is shared with other patrollers and the board until you check out — in the app this continues while your phone is locked. Live location is never collected outside a shift you chose to share, and the trail is deleted after 30 days.
Panic alerts
If you press the panic button, your name and location at that moment go to every patroller and the board, by app notification and on WhatsApp. That is the purpose of the button.
Messages we send you (shift reminders, agendas, alerts) are logged with your number so the board can see what was delivered. Messages posted in the Briza WhatsApp groups our number belongs to are recorded so that possible incident reports can be picked up and confirmed by a board member; the sender’s name and number are kept with them for follow-up but are never shown on an incident.
Board meetings
Board meetings may be recorded and transcribed to prepare the minutes, with the knowledge of those present. Recordings are only available to the board.
Donations
Your name, email and the amount, for your receipt and our accounts. Card and bank details are handled by PayFast; we never see or store them.
Business directory
The details you submit for a listing, which are published once approved.
Notifications and the app
If you allow notifications, a notification token for your browser or phone, so alerts reach it. The app also stores, on your phone only, whether you turned on Face ID or fingerprint unlock — your biometric data never leaves your phone and we never receive it.
Cookies
One cookie that keeps you signed in. We use no advertising or analytics trackers.
3. Who can see what
- Anyone: the public incident map shows only the type of incident, its approximate area and the date — never who reported it or an exact address. Approved business listings, and patroller or board profiles that the person chose to publish.
- Signed-in members: incident descriptions and the patrol calendar, which shows patrollers by first name and last initial.
- Patrollers: the live location of patrollers on shift who chose to share it, and the watch list.
- The board:full incident reports including who reported them, resident registrations, and patrol records, to run the organisation and prepare the monthly newsletter. Every export of a resident’s personal data is logged.
We may share an incident report with SAPS or Helderberg Crime Watch when it is needed to deal with a crime. We never sell personal information or use it for advertising.
4. Services that process information for us
These providers handle information only to run the service for us:
- Our web server, which hosts the site and database.
- Google Cloud — private storage of uploaded files, and transcription of board meeting recordings.
- Our email provider — sending emails and newsletters.
- WhatsApp — messages sent from the organisation’s number.
- Expo, Apple and Google — delivering notifications to the app.
- PayFast — processing donations.
- OpenStreetMap — the map tiles your device loads.
Some of these providers store information outside South Africa. We only use providers that protect it to a standard comparable to POPIA.
5. How long we keep it
- Live patrol location trails: 30 days.
- Your account: until you leave or ask us to erase it (see below).
- Incident reports and patrol records: kept as the organisation’s safety record. When an account is erased they remain, but no longer show who made them.
- Signed indemnity waivers, donation records and the audit log: kept as long as the law requires for legal and financial records.
- Board meeting recordings: until the minutes are approved, after which the board may delete them.
6. Your rights
Under POPIA you can:
- see the information we hold about you — Settings → Your data → Download my data;
- correct it — in Settings, or by asking us;
- have your account erased — how to delete your account;
- stop newsletters at any time, from any newsletter or Settings;
- object to how we use your information.
Contact us at info@brizawatch.co.za. If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Information Regulator (inforegulator.org.za).
7. Security
Everything is sent over encrypted connections. Uploaded files are stored privately and only served to people allowed to see them. Access is limited by role, and passwords are stored only as one-way hashes.
8. Children
Accounts are for adult residents of Briza. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 18.
9. Changes
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top, and tell members of any significant change.